We had a rollicking good time at the June 2 SRT meeting. Lucky for us that things went so well, with a humble number of 5 members present. But the great gift of the evening was *Kelly V’s* outstanding work to invite guests~~ so we had a bounty of very talented, jump-right-in guests who helped make the meeting lively and engaging.

Our acting Sgt at Arms Rui Li started us off, then Acting Pres. Paul Johnson welcomed us, then Meeting TM Rui Li took things from there. Our five great guests were: Brian McClellan (to practice for Region 8 event), Shawn Toombs (who wants to come back again), Peter M. (his second visit), Patricia (referred to us by her friend Donna S), and Oscar (longtime friend of the club).  What a talented group! Let’s just say, they enjoyed themselves greatly, were well welcomed & active during the meeting, each got time with our excellent VP membership to gain some info, and each one suggested they just may be back. Congratulations and thank you, Kelly!

Brian delivered his practice speech for the Region 8 event, and wow’d us. The title “Get it? Got it. Good” was an engaging, heartfelt, masterfully-delivered speech about the trials and tribulations of learning how to be a good parent.  Then Claudia delivered a practice speech she’s working on, titled “3 Key Tips for Connecting with Your Audience, and One Bonus Take-Home Prize.” Ideas were presented for techniques that speakers can use to honor listeners in their audience by valuing the experience and expertise of those listeners, as well offering practical tips (not just theories) and ways to engage so that listeners feel included.

Rui provided two Table Topic opportunities—our guests Sean and Oscar both rose well to the occasion, delivering 4 minute speeches and reveling in the fact that they got to receive 2 minute verbal feedback segments also. (Guest Sean confessed afterwards he’d not spoken extemporaneously like that before, which you’d never have guessed. He had us in the palm of his hand!).

Bill timed us well, Oscar listed closely for benevolent-users, Kelly did the camera work, and Paul evaluated The Whole.

All in all, a festive, high-spirited evening….with five engaged guests and five hard-working members. Each person in the room had their hand in making this meeting a success! Kelly proved, once again, her excellent skills at rousing guests, and all put out the welcome mat.

See you next time!

Acting Sec, Claudia Brogan

Paul Johnson is Trouble Breaker #1 at Shortcuts to Results, the firm that creates Trouble Breakers™ who break past trouble and make things happen. Paul delivers education, consulting, and speaking programs that let clients discover and use business breakthroughs. The results: more revenues, more productivity, more simplicity, and more confidence.

As The World’s Only Professional Trouble Maker™, Paul eagerly takes the “road less traveled”. His unique experiences allow him to create the Shortcuts to Results™ that enable him to deliver exceptional results for his clients. Learn more at www.troublebreaker.com

Paul Johnson earned his CTM in 1998, and then began developing his professional speaking career. Paul joined the Speakers Roundtable Club in 2005 during his term as president of the Georgia State Chapter of National Speakers Association. He earned his AC-B in 2006, and his AC-S in 2008.

Paul co-founded the Technology Marketing Association in Atlanta, and is also a member of the International Federation for Professional Speakers. Read Paul’s engaging articles on leadership, marketing, sales and production at www.paul-johnson.com.

A Business Meeting was held May 19, 2008. Paul Johnson performed the duties of president in the absence of Pat Schmalzried, club President.

Quorum consisted of Bill Hosken, Bill Kovach, Claudia Brogan, David Flach, Deborah Hill, Jon Schwartz, Kelly Vandever, Merrilee Morris, Peter Gibson and Paul Johnson

• The following motion was made by Bill Hosken and seconded by Claudia Brogan:

A 15-minute business meeting shall be scheduled for the second Monday meeting of each odd-numbered month.

The motion passed.

As a result, business meetings will be scheduled for the second Monday in January, March, May, July, September and November. Members should make every effort to attend those meetings to ensure the business of the club can carried out and supported.

• The following motion was made by Bill Hosken and seconded by Jon Schwartz:

Speakers Roundtable will limit meetings to the second and fourth Mondays during the months of June, July and August.

This motion was defeated.

• The following motion was made by David Flach and seconded by Bill Hosken:

The acting President may declare on behalf of the Executive Committee at any regular business meeting that any Members not present be classified as Inactive for the duration of that meeting when a vote on membership of an individual is scheduled for that meeting.

The motion passed.

As a result the Club is assured of having a voting quorum whenever we are scheduled to vote on membership for a prospective new member.

Hello Fellow Speakers,

We had a two entertaining speeches tonight and an insightful and action packed business meeting, with 10 members and 1 guest present.

Our SAA was filled extemporaneously by Deborah Hill who welcomed us and helped us pledge our allegiance to an imaginary flag (the person with all of our stuff, including the flag and camera no-showed). Our stand-in president Paul Johnson greeted us, then introduced Peter Gibson, our Toastmaster. His team consisted of:
GE: Deborah Hill
GR: Claudia Brogan (we all learned from her report tonight)
Timer: Merrilee Morris (creatively without our cards or watch)
Camera Person: None (no camera)

Our speakers:
Vinny was back in full swing tonight. Jon Schwartz entertained us with two short speeches meant for video, entitled, “Vinny Vents.” He vented about bottled water, hotel water, customer service and a few other side subjects.

Paul Johnson became three people tonight, as he interpretively and creatively read from the screenplay, “Diff’rent” by Eugene O’Neill.

Our business meeting was well lead by Paul and was very productive. We voted on three resolutions - two approved and one failed. Bill Hosken will send the official resolutions to us soon. We also discussed the priorities of the club and are actively rethinking what we all want out of the club. Claudia will research the initial charter doctrines and we’ll consider defining our club objectives and structure as we are now and want to be.

Merrilee provided us with some glorious date cake, which went quickly (more quickly than Deb’s brown rice chips).

Our meeting started 4 minutes late and ended a touch late.

See you in two weeks. Remember, no meeting next week. Have a fun Memorial Day!

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

Hello everyone.

We had an entertaining meeting Monday evening.  Our TM Merrilee did her usual wonderful job.  She set the tone with her cleverly designed agenda and kept us moving through the meeting with humor and style.

Keith spoke to us about bridging the generations with a computer game. Check with him for the full details!!!

Rui Li selected a beautiful piece for her interpretive reading.

Bill Kovach and I volunteered to jump in as impromptu speakers.  What a master of organization our Bill K is!  If you missed his speech on a timely topic sure to impact each of us this summer please be sure to ask him about it at next week’s meeting.

We had two very cute young guests.  It was fun to listen to their views of our meeting.

We have a line up of stars for next week’s meeting so be sure to be there!

Signing off for now and looking forward to seeing you soon…

Vicki